1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air bag apparatus for a passenger seat for protecting an occupant in the passenger seat in a vehicle such as a motor vehicle and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known air bag apparatus for a passenger seat is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-215151.
In conjunction with the air bag apparatus for a passenger seat, the laid-open patent application proposes an air bag folding manner such that the air bag will be deployed toward an occupant's torso during an early period of deployment. Furthermore, in this air bag apparatus for a passenger seat, the resistance or drag that occurs when the air bag is unfolded from the folded state is utilized to reduce the deploying speed of the air bag.
However, in a typical air bag apparatus for a passenger seat, the air bag needs to be tightly folded in order to minimize the size of the entire apparatus. Therefore, there is a danger that at the time of an impact on the vehicle, the air bag may not completely unfold but may remain partially folded or packed when an occupant moves forward by inertia and contacts the air bag. Also, in a typical air bag arrangement, gas is directly jetted into the air bag from the inflator, so that it is difficult to control the direction of gas flow in the air bag. Therefore, it is difficult to control the direction of deployment of the air bag.